Fun Foodie Family Travels with Vegan Filipino Treats on a Budget: How We Enjoy Yummy Bakeshop Finds at San & Wolves, Save Money for Family Trips, and Travel Smart
- Valentine Bear
- Sep 28
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 19
Table of Contents
Introduction
How to Get to San & Wolves Bakeshop
Our Fun Foodie Family Visit with Vegan Filipino Treats
How to Find Good Deals on Plane Tickets and Car Rides
How We Save Money for Family Trips
How We Travel Smart While Having Fun
Conclusion
Introduction
Hi everyone!
Valentine Bear here. I've been back in school and busy with my classes and homework! l Fall is here, but first I want to share some fun foodie family travels with vegan Filipino treats on a "budget". The first thing we did this summer was travel and take a summer road trip to Northern California. We had so much fun! But before I talk more about our trip, let me tell you about the best vegan Filipino bakery in Long Beach called San & Wolves. It was so yummy!
On our way to Northern California, my parents planned for us to visit San & Wolves. San & Wolves Bakeshop is a small, locally owned and operated vegan Filipino bakery located on 3900 E 4th St, Long Beach, California 90814. We are a veggie (vegetarian) foodie family so we were really excited to come here and try Filipino sweets with no eggs! :) Some vegetarians eat eggs, and some don't. We definitely recommend it one hundred percent, especially if you like Filipino sweets! And you don't have to be vegan to enjoy vegan sweets!
Be sure to check their hours and call before planning your visit. You can look at their website here: https://www.sanandwolves.com/
How to Get to San & Wolves Bakeshop
By Car
Directions from Google maps: San & Wolves Directions & Map
Top Car Rental Companies
We used our car, but if you plan to drive and rent a car here are 4 top car rental companies:
2 Popular Apps for Saving Money on Gas:
Upside
Gas Guru:
For Android: Gas Guru on Google Play
For Apple: Gas Guru app
By Plane (from Long Beach Airport):
If you plan to fly, flying to Long Beach is the easiest option, because it is the most direct. To fly to San & Wolves Bakeshop, arrive at Long Beach Municipal Airport (LGB) and then get a car ride, take the bus or train the bakeshop at 3900 E 4th St, Long Beach, CA 90814. Another option is to fly to LAX or an airport close to it (like John Wayne, Bob Hope, and LA/Ontario International Airports) and get a ride to the bakeshop. This option gives you more choices and is best if you would like to spend time in Los Angeles or places that are close first, before visiting the bakeshop. Long Beach is about 21 miles south of LAX.
4 Airlines That Offer Connecting Flights to LGB:
Delta Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Virgin Atlantic
Our Visit and Food Review
It was a cool, gray morning when we arrived at San & Wolves Bakeshop: Authentic Vegan Filipino Baked Goods. There was a soft breeze in the air. The small bakeshop had a glass front with orange sunbursts. In white letters were the shop name at the front, and “Filipino”, “Fresh Pandesal”, and “Coffee” at the top. There was also a short list of goodies like “Bibingka” and “Ube Treats”.
We waited in line outside until we were called. Inside were cases of their baked treats with their menu above. There was so much to choose from and we could eat everything there, so it was hard for us to decide!
My Mom ordered the Pandan Cinny Bun She LOVED it! She told us it was like a pandan cinnamon roll. These two pictures are from their Instagram Page:
If you have not heard of pandan before, pandan is a tropical plant that is popular in South and Southeast Asia, including the Philippines. The leaves have a sweet, one-of-a-kind scent. They are harvested and used to make all kinds of dishes, drinks and desserts. That's why the
Pandan Cinny Bun Mom ordered is green :)
My Dad ordered the Pan de Coco. He loved it too! Here’s what Pan de Coco looks like:
If you have not heard of pandesal, pandesal is a common Filipino bread roll. It can be plain, or have fillings like coconut or ube. Ube is more popular these days, but it did not used to be that way. If ube is new to you, ube is a yam native to the Philippines known for its bright purple color. Like pandan, ube is used to make all kinds of desserts. My Mom and Dad love ube desserts (it's my Mom's favorite!) so we were really excited to eat ube treats that are friendly for veggies like us! The people who worked there and the owner were friendly and really nice too. We ate on a bench at the front of the shop. What a fun, great way to start our trip!
The total cost for these two goodies was: $12.65
How to Find Good Deals on Plane Tickets and Car Rides
My Mom stands by doing online research carefully before she buys anything for our travel adventures. She looks into each site and compares prices, services and customer reviews for:
Travel packages
Plane tickets
Gas
Car rentals
Hotels, Airbnb
Car, bus, subway and train rides
You can do this too! She said that sometimes, it is best to buy tickets from the airline. Airlines also offer “vacation bundles”, so be sure to look into and compare their deals too. This article from Upgraded Points may help: The 12 Best Websites for Booking Flights at the Cheapest Prices
4 Popular Comparison Sites and Online Travel Agencies (also called OTAS):
Expedia: Expedia.com
Google Flights: Google Flights
Kayak: kayak.com
Momondo: momondo.com
How We Save Money for Family Trips
Sometimes, special foods and eating at good places costs more money (we have a special diet) but my parents are really good about saving up for our trips and saving money during our vacation by preparing ahead of time. They call it traveling on a “budget”.
My Mom uses these “savings challenges” she bought on Amazon: Laminated Money Savings Challenge Trackers for 6-Ring A6 Binders and has this “budget binder” she stands by: Budget Binder with Cash Envelopes to keep track of everything she spends.
She likes the savings challenges because she can use and reuse them for our travel adventures. Mom loves the budget binder because it helps her stay “organized” and on track with our spending every month. For her, the most important things are sticking to the “budget” and to her rules about spending. She also still stands by paying cash for most things. Every 1-2 weeks, she sets aside some money based on how much money she makes every month. Mom also makes a “timeline” for saving. For example, my parents started saving for this trip 3-4 months ago.
How We Travel Smart While Having Fun
On road trips like this, my parents bring a big cooler with ice packs. They stock up on big water jugs, juice, tea, coffee, healthy snacks, and food items that are easy to bring, easy to make, and that will last for hours in a cooler.
12 Recommended Foods to Bring on Road Trips:
Sandwiches
Bread
Nut butter
Fruit jam
Granola bars
Oranges, apples, and bananas
Carrot sticks
Snacks bought in bulk and prepared at home (like trail mix, crackers, and, if I'm good, a little candy)
Dry cereal
Non-dairy milk
They also bring plastic cups and dishes, water bottles, Ziploc bags, eating utensils, and dish washing supplies. They are always well stocked with hand wipes and paper towels. We did this and saved lots of money! My Mom writes packing lists with lots of info, so we don't forget too many things. We also saved money on this vacation by driving instead of flying. If you plan to fly, you can choose and prepare things from this list that are allowed to take on the plane.
Conclusion
My family really enjoyed our visit to San & Wolves and the yummy vegan Filipino goodies. They were made with care, and the customer service was great. We give it 5 stars and highly recommend it!
So set aside some money, save some tummy space and stop by San & Wolves. You won't be disappointed!
Thank you for reading my blog! Stay tuned for my next post and more fun family travels :)
Hugs,
Valentine Bear
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